Children of Inmates, Inc. has accomplished a lot as an organization over the years. And so have our individual partners.

In fact, in the past months and year, four of our partners have been recognized across their communities by a governor, school superintendent, an energy conservation group, a major corporation, and entrepreneur leaders.

In all, our partners have received awards, honors and other accolades for serving as role models, innovators and leaders in advancing our work in reconnecting thousands of children with their incarcerated parents and rebuilding their relationships through lasting bonds.

We congratulate our partners:

Yvonne Sawyer, of Hope for Miami, was "runner up" in the third annual Philanthropy Miami Non-Profit Shark Tank competition in March, 2016 for collaborating around a new project or program. Her organization was among the four finalists, making it to the round during which they got to present to the judges. The proposed project: A year-round literacy initiative where Hope for Miami sets up a Free Family Book Fairs within partner locations, including a stand-alone center at the new Big Brothers/Big Sisters headquarters near the airport.

This was the second time Hope for Miami made it to the finals in the same competition

Paulette Pfeiffer, of Silent Victims of Crime, was honored in March, 2016 by Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho as one of 10 philanthropists who are part of his “Angel Patrol.” The honor is given to individuals who “provide solutions for the most needy, fragile, and often invisible in our community,” the superintendent said. Pfeiffer was honored for being a mentor to children of incarcerated parents.

Pastor Gary Montgomery and Josephine Gamboa-Montgomery, of Living Stones, received a Champions of Service award in April, 2015 from Florida Governor Rick Scott and Volunteer Florida for “dedicated their time and effort to bettering our communities.” The governor added in a statement: “These Champions of Service have devoted countless hours to changing lives across our great state and encouraging service in others.”

In addition, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and Department of Children and Families presented Living Stones the 2013 “Champion of Hope Award” from the office of Governor Scott and the Florida Faith and Community Based Advisory Council.

Pastor Linda Freeman, of Peacemakers Family Service Center and Trinity Church, received the Statewide Energy Innovator Award in November, 2015 from ReThink Energy Florida. Pastor Linda worked with several different groups of people spanning continents, ages, genders, and occupations with the #KidPower 2015 Project in which her team created model bicycle generators with a clean energy curriculum. The #KidPower 2015 Project was tested in an elementary school and then taken into 11 Florida correctional institutions with Children of Inmates so children could interact with their parents. In addition, #KidPower 2015 was taken to the Light of the Future Schools in Cambodia.

Her team also presented to the Oracle Users’ Group Community Service Day to highlight the possibilities of using clean energy to improve the world. In March, 2016, Pastor Linda was also named a Community Fellow for the Green Family Foundation NeighborhoodHELP HEALTH POLICY ANALYSIS ACADEMY-Powered by the Aetna Foundation. The program sends interdisciplinary teams of Florida International University students into communities of need to track and monitor the health of families throughout those students' education.

These honors represent the kind of progress our staff and partners are making in bettering the lives of our children. Together, we have made tremendous gains in connecting children and their incarcerated parents as well as advocating for them as a cause locally, statewide, nationally and across the globe.

There is still much work to be done. Yet, by having these talented partners in our organization, we know that we’ll keep developing and innovating our programs to reach more children and help more families.